Failed Plans and Gold Fishes
by triffickie
Summary: Nanaki and Yuffie both just wish to go home. NanakixYuffie. FINISHED in 482005.
1. Thanks a lot, Cid.

Failed Plans and Gold Fishes                                                                                                         

 By Vera Priscaleth

Disclaimer: Hey, I own none of the characters or the locations or the world (those are all copyrighted to Sony), but this text is mine.  

Author's Notes: I decided to re-write this. It's my NanakixYuffie-fic and as far as I know, it's the only one around… If not, let me know! =) This is post-game, so it's pretty much spoiler-some. Rating should be… PG-13, just to be sure.                      

"Phew! The planet is saved..." Yuffie said to herself while looking out of the window. 

The weather was calm and smooth; you could smell the freshness in the air when you walked outside. The breeze came from the Planet; it's beautiful, newly born soul, which had destroyed all of Mako on the Planet and gathered it to the Lifestream. This was all due Aeris; her spirit had summoned Holy and saved the Planet. What Yuffie and AVALANCHE had done was destroy Sephiroth, which had been a natural step in the process of the resurrection of the Planet's spirit. Yuffie gazed into space, eyes fixed on the view ahead of her; she was spending time at the Rocket Town. Cid hadn't been able to fly her home yet; he had been too tired and said he needed his cuppa before flying off somewhere to experience more of what he called "?&¤!%/¤%# adventures". 

This upset Yuffie greatly. _Stupid Cid_, she told herself. _Why can we not get a move on already?! Wutai is waiting for me! Wutai is waiting for its heroine!_ She smiled at herself. Yuffie of Wutai, Lady Yuffie Kisaragi of Wutai, daughter of Lord Godo. Father would be so proud. But she didn't care too much for her father's opinion. The most important thing right now was to get to Wutai. She huffed. Where the heck was Cid?

Yuffie went to the kitchen, where Shera was serving Cid tea. _Gawd, why does she serve this old man? _she wondered. _It's all so… disgracing. _

_If I get married, if I **ever** get married, I will not be a slave to my husband,_ Yuffie considered. She gladly accepted Shera's request to join Cid for a cup of tea, because at the table she could ask him about their plans of going to Wutai. 

Just as Yuffie was about to bring up the subject, the door went and Red XIII ran inside. He sat down beside Shera. Yuffie glared at him instinctively. It was no secret to either of them that they never really liked each other. He thought of her as a brat; a quite popular opinion, Yuffie knew. She thought of him as _a cat_ that can talk. He was way too serious and always acted _so_ smart. Nanaki was... weird. He was like an adult; still Tifa had told Yuffie that in fact he was only 16 in human years. He knew a lot about the Planet, but that was just because he was born in Cosmo Canyon, where everyone studied and where the elders knew much about everything. _Cosmo__Canyon__ is such a drag, anyway,_ Yuffie thought. _The dude at the Materia-store was sleeping, for crying out loud!_ Yuffie didn't want to learn about the Planet any more than she had to know. This little adventure with Strife and the AVALANCHE had provided Yuffie with more information than needed. 

Suddenly Yuffie was flooded with embarrassing memories of her failed Materia-theft in Wutai. _One incident,_ she tried to convince herself. _It doesn't mean you're a lousy Materia-hunter._

Truth to be told, she didn't believe that right now. There was no more Materia left in this world. The only thing she could do right now was go to Wutai and make her father proud. Or just hope for the best. The days of Wutai's glory… She wanted to believe they weren't over. She wanted to believe… So hard… 

She noticed Nanaki's eye on her. He was annoying her and it was pissing her off, that he was here. _Stuck at Rocket Town with Paws, for Holy's sake_, she thought bitterly.

Rocket Town was a dull place. It was like Mideel before the Lifestream-accident and Yuffie agreed with the kids in that one house, who just sat around complaining about their boredom. The place was full of old people. Everyone was talking about Cid and what happened to the Meteor and how Captain was there beating Sephiroth. Blah blah. Right now Yuffie just wanted to get home. She loved Wutai, even though it was in crap condition at the moment. She had beaten her father (oh the fun memories) and gotten to the last floor of the pagoda. But now it could all be different. Yes, hopefully, it would be different. She just had to get to Wutai. Yuffie glanced at Cid. 

"I think I'll go outside," she said with a wide smile. "Otherwise I won't get to catch a glimpse of this wonderful town before we head off," she added sarcastically, but nor Cid or Nanaki bothered to notice. Yuffie stood up and walked out of the room.

Nanaki watched Cid sip his tea with Shera in the kitchen. Bugenhagen was still on his travels and Nanaki had no idea of where he was headed or when was he coming back. This made Nanaki pretty nervous, but right now all he wanted was to get back to Cosmo Canyon. He had to protect the Canyon now, for it was his duty. Just like Seto, the great warrior.   
"Hey, Red, we're going now!" Cid murmured to Nanaki and walked out of the door, giving Shera a look and a little grin. Shera smiled too and Nanaki followed Cid outside, where Yuffie was standing, looking impatient.   
"C'man, Cid, let's go, let's go!! Wutai's waiting!" she said and tried to push Cid further up the ladder that they climbed to get to Highwind. Cid cursed and kept climbing up before Yuffie. Once they were on board, Yuffie started feeling sick again, but kept repeating "Wutai's waiting for me" between the vomiting. Nanaki decided to be with her on the deck, just so that he could feel the air and see the Cosmo Canyon and the Nibel-mountains. The sights were so pretty after the Lifestream had gathered to Midgar. He did love this Planet. More than he had ever realised.   
"Wutai!!!" Yuffie yelled and reached over the deck to see her hometown. "H-hey, we ain't going to Wutai, where are we heading?!" she yelled in disappointment at Nanaki. _What is this?! _she thought, outraged. _Why aren't we going to Wutai?_  
"We're going to Cosmo Canyon first." he said and looked away from Yuffie, knowing that she would get mad.   
"Cosmo Canyon?! Why the hell?! Wutai's waiting for me!" she yelled, frustrated and she would've probably done something more, if she hadn't vomited at that very moment on the deck. Nanaki stepped back and looked at his paws. All clean, thank god.   
"Cosmo Canyon's waiting for me as well..." he mumbled, but unfortunately Yuffie heard it.  
"I don't care, Red!" she replied and turned away. _Stupid furball, stupid stupid furball, _she cursed silently. _Wutai… Wutai's waiting for me…_  
'Of course you wouldn't.' Nanaki thought, a bit bitterly. He had known the flight with her wouldn't be a pleasant one. She was probably the biggest and the most annoying human being he had ever encountered. _Such a brat,_ he added. _Does she ever think of anyone but herself? Anyone other than __Yuffie__Kisaragi__? _He snorted. _Of course you don't care._

* * * * * * 

"Watch your paws, because if one of them lands on my foot, you're dead," Yuffie bitched as they climbed off the Highwind. Nanaki sighed at this. Her anger towards him had only grown larger, the closer they got to Cosmo Canyon. He wanted to ask her if she hated him because he was different species or just because she was a snotty little brat, but he didn't allow himself to say such insults. It wasn't very… _him_. There were better things to worry about.

The little area covered with grass was crowded from all the people of Cosmo Canyon who had come to welcome Nanaki home. Especially the elders were glad to welcome Seto's son back to Cosmo Canyon. Yuffie had decided to rest at the second floor of the pub, and had borrowed some gil from Cid. She was really exhausted and her head hurt as she walked through the crowd that was warmly welcoming Red XIII back. Yuffie rented a room from the inn and sat down on the bed, but could not fight sleep much longer. The last thought on her mind was Wutai. And how she'd be home soon… _Soon…_

Nanaki was happier than ever to be back at the canyon. Everyone was wishing him welcome and they all sat down near the Cosmo Candle, as Nanaki told everything they wanted to know about the final battle against Jenova and Sephiroth and how the Lifestream gathered. He even answered all the silly questions the children asked (_How long was Sephiroth's sword? Did Barret have green hair?_). Nanaki stayed at Bugenhagen's house that night and thought about the future, the elders' words about it. He wished to visit the observatory, but only Cloud Strife and Bugen himself knew how to use it. _Hopefully grandfather will come back soon_, Nanaki thought. _He must know all about the Lifestream accident… He can tell me… More about Seto… _And with this, he wandered off to sleep. 

Yuffie woke up before the sunrise and didn't know where she was until she saw the red sand outside. _Canyon? _Then she remembered the happenings of yesterday. _Dammit, Red, _she cursed and sat up on her bed, yawning. Soon she began to play an old Wutain nursery rhyme in her, which cheered her up and soon she was outside the Inn, looking around for Cid. _I have to get going! _she thought excitedly. _Wutai cannot wait!_

But Cid was nowhere to be seen. She tapped her foot on the sandy ground, annoyed. Then it struck her. She was supposed to go for a nap at the Cosmo Canyon inn, not sleep all night. Cid had told that he would wait for her until it started to get dark, and when it would be dark, he would fly back to Rocket Town. Yuffie hadn't paid so much attention to him, because of her dysphoria. So she had slept all night and now Cid was in Rocket Town and she was a million miles away from Wutai. Yuffie kicked the air and mumbled a small curse between her lips. This wasn't her day, week or month. Apparently. 


	2. Pweese?

Deflated, she walked back to the Canyon. That stupid guy on the front gate said 'good morning' to her, but Yuffie grunted and wished to slash him with her Conformer. This was** not** a good morning. This was horrible. She was stuck here. _Stuck in Cosmo Canyon, just about the most boring place on the Planet, _she thought, aggravated.  She needed to get to the sea, get a boat, ship, an airplane, anything to get her to Wutai. Yuffie was just pissed off. At herself and this goddamn Canyon and everything, basically. She kicked a red rock on the ground. It spun around in the air and landed on the edge of the canyon. Then it fell. No sounds, the canyon was deep. Yuffie sighed. Red would be no help. He probably didn't even want to talk to her. Not like she was going to beg him for help or anything. Yuffie Kisaragi, the daughter of Lord Godo, would** never** beg for help, not anyone's help. She was stronger than that. _Yeah, I am, _Yuffie thought and didn't feel so bad anymore. _I'm gonna be alright, I'm gonna go to Wutai  and I'm going to make it!_ she thought proudly. But how? _'How'_ was never a problem for Yuffie. She was a witty, mischievous ninja girl. She'd find a way. But right now, she needed to talk to Red, because as she walked to Bugenhagen's house, a plan began to form in her pretty little head… A plan just perfect for her. 

Nanaki was in Bugenhagen's room, studying the maps of the Universe silently. He had elders visiting him, welcoming him back, but right now he wanted to calm down and concentrate on studying. It had been a long time since he had spent time home in Cosmo Canyon, reading about the Lifestream, listening to the Elders. It felt so good to be back home. Then suddenly the door went, rather rapidly and someone climbed up the latter. Yuffie's head came up as she turned it around and grinned at Nanaki. 

"Ciao Red." 

"Hello." Nanaki said calmly and closed his book. _I thought she was gone already. Didn't she leave with Cid?_ he thought and walked closer to Yuffie, who climbed inside the room and looked around. 

"So this is what it looks like in here." 

"Yes, this is Bugenhagen's room. This is where I live." 

"Righty-hoy!" Yuffie stated and sat on the couch. 

"Aren't you supposed to be in Wutai, or am I completely wrong?" 

"You're correct, Red, but you see, Cid, the old bastard, left me here and went to Rocket Town by himself while I was taking my beauty sleep."  Yuffie snorted. She was still a bit angry at herself for messing things up so bad. She tried not to worry now. The important thing was to go through with her plan.

"I see," Nanaki replied and turned back to his studies. _Hopefully she'll find her way out of here by tomorrow_, he thought. _Hopefully she won't bother me anymore._

"Yeah, so now I've decided you're going to get me to Wutai!" 

"Pardon me?" 

"To Wutai. Do I have to spell that out for you?" 

"How will **I **get you to Wutai? _Why_ should I get you to Wutai?" He was seriously dumbfounded. _She must have lost her mind_, he thought. _Why would I help her? What has she ever done to help me?_

"Get real!" Yuffie snorted, seemingly amused. 

"You get real yourself.." Nanaki's voice was full of anger. _This girl was so stupid. Silly, materialistic ninja girl._

"....Please?" Yuffie tried. 

"No," he huffed. 

"...Pretty please? Pweeese? Red, you can't be so cruel... Please?" Yuffie noticed that she was begging, but she had worked out her plan ages ago, so it was fine. _No, not begging_, she told herself. _I'm pleading. It's not the same as begging._

"NO!" Nanaki roared. Yuffie crossed her legs and arms and turned her head away from Nanaki. Nanaki looked away too. For all he cared, she could get lost. 

"Do you want me to die out there?" Yuffie asked, trying to plead to the gang-spirit they had when they had been the Avalanche. 

"You were there when we beat Sephiroth. I think you can handle it." Nanaki said and turned away. However, he had noticed how sad she looked. She didn't honestly think something was going to happen to her? Yuffie, the selfish, arrogant girl, who always seemed to know better couldn't have turned insecure all the sudden. She was on to something. He could tell. 

"What if I run out of potion, or counter an enemy with higher HP than any of the weapons? Curative material will not save me!" Yuffie shrieked. She was getting upset. 

"I.." Nanaki said and looked down, thinking. He couldn't go with her. She'd just steal all his possesions, maybe his armour even and sell them in Wutai. She's just like that. Then again, he didn't want her hanging around in the Canyon. If she would keep bothering him like this, he would never be able to live calmly in the Canyon. 

"Yeees?" Yuffie asked, with her hopes up. If Red would agree to go with her, then her plan would be ready to practice. 

"I'll take to you to Rocket Town, where Cid can fly you to Wutai. Is that okay?" he finally said. 

"Yess, it's perfect, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!!" Yuffie squealed and ran to actually _hug_ Red. Nanaki was puzzled, but put his paws around her. _What is she planning?_ he was thinking as Yuffie backed off from him and waved as she climbed down the latter. She was grinning all the time. Not a smile, like any other 16 year old girl would have, but this grin. A playful, untrustworthy grin.  A mischievous grin. 


	3. The journey begins...

And that grin was blasted on Yuffie's face even as she walked to the Cosmo Canyon's Inn. This was going great. Her plan was ready. Everything was great. She was going to go to Wutai richer than ever. The plan was so evil, it almost killed her. She was going to…

And then, suddenly, she saw an image of Nanaki's face in front of her. An image of how he would probably look like, if he _knew_ about her plan… Her evil plan in order to restore Wutai's glory. It was way too horrible. That was something she could do to a total stranger, but not Red. But now he would travel with her to Rocket Town. _All the way to __Rocket__Town__! _Yuffie thought_. With Red! With boring, precocious Paws!_ Yuffie gasped. She was going die out of sheer anger towards him, never mind the frustration of travelling with him. Travelling with Strife's gang had been fun, because of various things, Cid cracking up jokes and Barret getting pissed off at Cait Sith. But alone in the world, with Red… _Gawd._ The idea didn't exactly lighten up Yuffie's mood. 

Nanaki wasn't so thrilled about this travel himself. He and Yuffie had planned to pack up tonight and leave as soon as possible. "My father's going to be upset, because I'm coming late, but I'll just explain him everything. However I gotta get to Wutai" Yuffie had stated and there wasn't anything to debate after her word, Nanaki had figured out. She was just a brat, after all. _Stupid brat_, he thought. _But I must find out what she's up to. Besides, the sooner I get rid of her, the better. _

"HURRY! C'mon!" Yuffie was screaming as the Elders were saying goodbye to Nanaki. She was already at the gates and was tired of handling with the packages by herself. The Elders seemed to think it was a huge shame that Nanaki had to leave only after such a small period of time that he had spent in the Canyon. Nanaki apologised and promised to return as soon as possible. Then he glanced at Yuffie, who was looking bored and bothered. _Maybe she wishes that someone would say goodbye to her…_ Nanaki thought, but dropped the idea. _How silly, Yuffie doesn't care what the others think_, he thought. _That's realr honourable_. He glanced at Yuffie once again. This time Yuffie noticed and rolled her eyes. 

"Come on, One-eye, we ain't got all day, y'know?!" she said, her voice full of frustration. Nanaki sighed and said his last byes to the smaller children of Cosmo Canyon. One of them patted his nose and said:   
"That giwl is scawy. Be cawevul, Nanaki." 

Nanaki smiled a little. "I will," he said and turned to Yuffie and began walking slowly towards her. Yuffie was glad to see he was finally getting a move on. _How long can one take to say goodbye to a bunch of kids and old men? _she thought, annoyed as she tapped her foot against the sandy earth of the Canyon.

"We got a long travel ahead of us, Red. Are you sure you've got your best weapon equipped?" she said and grinned. 

_That grin again_, Nanaki thought. It was obvious she was up to something. 

"No, actually I left it home. I figured I do not need it on this travel. The enemies are fairly easy to beat and all I need is a couple of X-potions and a tent," he said and put on one of his and one of Yuffie's bags on his back. Then he walked down the stairs, leading away from Cosmo Canyon. Yuffie just laughed. _He doesn't trust me. Not for the least bit, he doesn't. Poor Red. He doesn't seem to understand I wouldn't do anything to harm him during this travel_, Yuffie thought and sighed after laughing. _Then again, I might just …play with his own mistrust with me…_ she thought and giggled inside. This was going to be fun. 

"You sure you won't need it?" Yuffie asked, teasingly.

"Yes, positive," Nanaki replied curtly. 

"Damn," Yuffie muttered under her breath, but made sure Nanaki heard this. 

"Wh-what?" Nanaki stared at her.

"What did I say?"

"You said damn." A pause. "Yuffie, you weren't going to… steal my weapon, were you?"

"Of course not, One-eye. I'm done with thievery. It gets easily boring."

"Oh," Nanaki replied, when he couldn't think of anything better to say. Yuffie giggled victoriously inside. _Gotcha, Paws. Gotcha. _

In silence, they continued their travel to the other side of the Canyon and into the green grass fields before Midgar. Yuffie's objective was clear in her mind, but she had completely dumped her cunning plan of exploiting Nanaki and his knowledge of the Planet. Right now she didn't felt like she really needed him to be there, but then again, it was nice. _To have company on such a long trip,_ Yuffie thought.

_Er, what am I thinking?! Nice to have company… Company like One-eye?! _She snorted at herself. _Get real, Kisaragi. Just get real._

"We gonna visit Cloud and Tifa?" Yuffie asked, after they had noticed the first Nibelwolf attack them. 

"They live in Midgar." Nanaki said. _Doesn't she know anything? Oh yeah, maybe she just doesn't **care**_, he then thought and shrugged. He couldn't help but be a little frustrated with Yuffie's comment a few days ago. _Of course she doesn't care… She doesn't care for anyone, or anything. _Something stung his chest, because inside his mind, he knew this wasn't true. She had cared for Aeris, she had cried against Cloud's shoulder when Aeris had died… She had fought bravely and she had… _She… She's really alright, if you think about it. She's really just Yuffie, fighting for the people of Wutai. Just like I was fighting for the people of __Cosmo__Canyon__._

"They've got a summer house in Nibelheim, dorkus. " Yuffie stated and pointed at the Mountains. "They bought it for the old times' sake", she explained knowingly. 

"Oh" was the only thing that Nanaki could say. _Then again_, he added, _she's still Yuffie. Ignorant and spoiled Yuffie. Yuffie, who just does not care._

**********************************************************

The moon was shining already, as they climbed up the Nibel Mountains. They had visited Vincent, who lived in the Shinra Mansion, not for old times' sake however, and had realised that all of the monsters were gone out of the Mansion. Then Yuffie had forced Nanaki to continue travelling. Right now he was almost short on breath, but Yuffie was already a few long steps ahead of him. 

"Come on, Red! Where's your top condition? Where's your strength? C'mon!" she yelled at him from above. The moon was shining behind her. She was grinning. Nanaki cursed the way Cid had once taught him to, but so quietly, that she couldn't have possibly heard him. 

"This.. has.. nothing… to do with .. strength, Kisaragi…" he huffed. 

"It's Miss Kisaragi to you, Red. Now come on, we're going to be late!" she said and continued to walk uphill. 

"Miss Kisaragi, do you.. uhh…" Nanaki was still short of air, and he huffed. "Want this piece of Materia?" he continued. _Witless or ingenious, matters not_, he thought. Now Yuffie would come down and pick up the material, which didn't exist. Then he could set up a tent and make her rest. It was an impossible plan, but he had no other solution. He needed to rest.** She** needed a rest.

"Materia? Don't be silly, Paws. Materia doesn't exist anymore!" She was amused. _Where is he getting at?_

"How come there is a shiny, gleaming piece of Materia laying in front of me then? It isn't a moonstone, Yuffie… It's a real deal. The last Materia," he said and grinned at himself. This was going great. He could see her eyes lighten up and she was being tempted.

"What kinda materia is it?" Yuffie asked and looked both happy and curious. _The last Materia? Oh Shinra, if I could have the last Materia on this Planet… Wouldn't that be something, bringing it back to Wutai…_

"Oh, just a mastered All-materia" Nanaki said and glanced at the ground to avoid showing his grin. He heard Yuffie running downhill towards him. 

"Where is it, where is, where—AAAH!!!" The next thing Nanaki saw was Yuffie rolling downhill towards him. She must have tripped up. Yuffie looked amusing, her whole body wrapped up into a small ball. It was so amusing, Nanaki had to laugh. Yuffie stopped rolling right as she reached him. She sat up. 

"That really hurt," she stated, pouting and noticed her hair wasn't like her usual hairdo. Her hair had fallen down on her shoulders, not placed at the back with her usual two odd ponytails sticking out from the sides. Her brown, layered hair was now resting on her shoulders. Yuffie panicked. 

"Wh-where's my ribbon, where's my hair-bands?" she asked and crawled on the ground looking for them. Nanaki stared at Yuffie. Her hair was really nice like that. _She looks a lot prettier when her hair is like that, _he thought to himself, but shook off the thought. Then her eyes met his. She looked angry. 

"Will you_ stop _looking at my stupid hair and start looking for my hair-bands?" she said, annoyed. Weird Red was just staring at her with his one eye, when she had lost her official Gold Fish Ceremony Winner-ribbon. Red didn't reply, but she continued, crawling in the ground: 

"It's green, not like puke-green or light-green but like dark leaf-green, okay? It was three hair-bands and one ribbon. Make sure you find the ribbon, because if we don't, we'll spend a forever looking for it!" 

Nanaki knew she meant what she said, her voice sounded very serious and upset. Even though he was amused by her "it's not puke green or light-green"-ramble, he began looking for the bands and the ribbon from the cold ground of Nibel Mountains. It was very dark and the moon's light was fading behind the clouds. Suddenly Yuffie couldn't see Red anywhere! She was in a small cave, where they went in, looking for the ribbon. The three hair-bands had already been found. She got scared and her voice stuttered as she yelled for him. No reply. _This isn't funny_, she thought and yelled for him again. She was too scared to move, so she stayed put and took out her Conformer, in case any enemies happened to appear. Then she heard a growl behind her. Yuffie jumped and screamed as loud as she could, but then realised she had her weapon and turned around to attack. Yuffie felt so much relief when she saw it was Red's one eye staring at her and his tail giving them the light in the dark cave. She almost wanted to hug him, but then she saw what he was holding something between his teeth. 

"My RIBBON!!!" she squealed and this time hugged Red without doubting. Red was taken by surprise, but he hugged her back.

"Now we rest. Seriously, I'm not climbing anymore mountains... Not until tomorrow, that is. I noticed we can put up a tent in here. But before resting, let us eat," Nanaki said and dropped the bags from his back. Yuffie was so glad to get her ribbon back; she didn't argue and even helped Nanaki set up the fire. 

"What's so special about that ribbon?" Nanaki asked when he noticed how Yuffie was treating it like it was worth much more than one thousand mastered Knights Of the Round-Materias. 

"I won it. When I was 8, I started practising for the Gold Fish Ceremony-contests. Gold Fish Ceremony is like Tea ceremony, but more holy in Wutai. It starts with the mistress of the ceremony catching 4 gold fishes from the rivers of Wutai into a crystal bowl. Then she brings them to the table in a sacred gold fish ceremony-kimono. After that she, ahem…" Yuffie explained and coughed suddenly. "It's kind of weird, but it is a tradition." 

"Tell me more, please," Nanaki asked. He was getting interested; in all honesty, he knew very little about the Wutain culture. Yuffie sighed and fiddled the ribbon while gazing into the fire. 

"Then the mistress of ceremony puts dust into the water of the bowl. Then there's these spells that you have to mumble so that the fishes start to, ahem, sing." 

"Sing?!" Nanaki was surprised. There were so many things he didn't know about Wutai. 

"Yeah, they sing. They sing about the spring, the gods, the water, Wutai… It's beautiful. So beautiful," Yuffie said and stared at the campfire. She was all silent, thinking about how much she missed Wutai. How much she wanted to meet her relatives, her father, everyone. This ribbon reminded her of Wutai strongly. She loved it. It almost hurt her chest. _Home… Never has it felt so much like home before. I know it is home now. I know it's home, even though it's not glorious anymore… Just a tourist resort; is that **my** Wutai? _She sighed deeply, fighting back tears. 

"So, these contests are about the songs?" Nanaki then asked. He looked at Yuffie, who seemed to be out of this world. _She's in Wutai_, he thought. _In her mind she's always in Wutai… And she wishes to be in Wutai… Just like I wish to be in __Cosmo__Canyon__. Always_, He sighed. They were so different, yet so alike. It was quite amazing. 

"Yeah, who ever gets the best dust and gets the spell correct, wins. I won this ribbon when I was 12. Number one spot. I was so proud. Father was proud as well," Yuffie said and smiled at Red. Sweet smile, not a grin. She wasn't joking or planning something. Not this time. She was just, genuinely, smiling at him.

"I wish I could visit Wutai now," Nanaki said exactly what he was thinking of. 

"So come with me." She hadn't even realised, when the words escaped her lips.

"You want me to?" 

"I don't know." 

"…I could." 

"Good." 

Yuffie smiled again. Red had found her precious Gold Fish Ceremony-ribbon. Now she could go to bed without worrying. Everything was fine. Everything would be fine. _I'm not alone_.

"Go to bed?" Nanaki asked her as she went inside the tent. 

"Yes," Yuffie responded. 

"Goodnight, Miss Kisaragi." 

"Night One-eye." 


	4. ...and ends with sweet love alá Highwind...

The sun rose up early, but when Yuffie saw the light coming through the roof of the tent, she just turned around in her sleeping bag, not wanting to wake up yet. Nanaki, however, was already up and cleaned up the area where they had set the campfire. He had also packed all the bags and was basically ready to leave the misty Nibel Mountains, but Yuffie resisted and complained when Nanaki dragged her out of the tent. She did look tired, but after she drunk a couple of potions, she seemed much more hyped up. She was excited as she realised they were soon out of the misty air of the mountains. 

"Soon in the sun, Red, soon in the sun!" she squealed and ran towards the big spider who guarded the last exit. Nanaki was about to warn her, but before he had gotten close enough to attack the monster, Yuffie had already killed it. 

Then they reached the grass fields, the sun shone on their faces and there was a slow ocean breeze blowing through Nanaki's fur and Yuffie's hair. 

"This is great. We're so close," Yuffie said, her voice filled with excitement. _I can almost see Rocket Town_, she thought happily. 

"Not really. We'll reach Rocket Town after the sun goes down, if we're lucky." Nanaki said truthfully. 

"Don't be so negative. Surely we'll get there before that," Yuffie said and covered her eyes from the sun. She tried to see Rocket Town again, but couldn't. 

"I'll give Cid a piece of my mind when we get there!" Yuffie stated, more to herself than Nanaki, but he responded. 

"I don't suggest you do that. He's pretty bad tempered." 

"True, but he's just a harmless old man." Yuffie said lightly as they began to walk towards the woods. 

"If you upset him he won't take you to Wutai," Nanaki pointed out. 

"Me?" Yuffie asked quizzically and stopped walking. Nanaki stopped and looked at her. _I thought he was coming with me, _Yuffie wondered and furrowed her brow.

"Yes, you."  Nanaki stared at her.

"I thought you were coming with me." She couldn't help but speak her mind. 

"Well, I am coming with you." 

"You don't have to, you know…" Yuffie said, trailing off. She looked down. She had practically spent all night wondering. Why had Red been so nice to her? Why hadn't he been ignorant towards her like usually? Why had_ she _been so sweet to him? All of the sudden seemed like their attitudes had changed completely. Maybe they were just becoming good friends. _Yeah_, Yuffie thought. _We're becoming friends, because when the whole Meteor-drama happened, we didn't have the time to become friends_. 

B_ut if we're such good friends now, why doesn't he want to come with me to Wutai?_ she couldn't help wondering. 

"No, I want to visit Wutai. Learn more about its history. Wutai has always been ignored when talking about the study of the Planet" Nanaki said and caught Yuffie's attention. She woke up from her own consideration and said:

"But Wutai doesn't have anything to do with the Planet!"

"Yes, it does. If we could understand what the gold fishes are singing, maybe we could find out more about their connections to …Cetra, perhaps?" Nanaki explained, but realised he had very little point. He looked down in embarrassment, almost feeling flushed. He hardly ever talked this much. He only spoke when he had to. When he had a point. This time his only point he wanted to go with Yuffie, to Wutai. _But why?_ he had to ask himself. 

"Cetra and the gold fishes? Well, to think of it, the gold fishes and all the animals of Wutai have been living there for centuries before men came on the Planet. Maybe the gold fishes did have some connections with the Cetra," Yuffie began thinking. She was really interested on the subject and was eager to find out more. When she would arrive in Wutai, she would dig out all the history materials she could find about the ancient times of Wutai. She started planning who she would go to. Gorm seemed to know a lot and Podo as well… _I'm thinking about history!_ Yuffie suddenly realised. _Like only the most boring thing there is!_ She started to giggle at herself inside. 

"Miss Kisaragi?" Nanaki asked. He was close and staring at Yuffie. 

"Just call me Yuffie, Red." Yuffie smiled sweetly and suddenly noticed the scar over Nanaki's other eye. 

"Why have you only got one eye, Red?" she asked and looked closer. 

Nanaki stepped away. "It's a long story." 

"Well, tell me." _I like stories,_ she thought.

"You don't care." 

"How come?" Yuffie furrowed her brow. _I don't care?_

"Because you never do." Yuffie hadn't failed to miss to hurt in his voice. He seemed almost... Almost... _Bitter_.

She turned away and felt incredibly vulnerable all of the sudden. _I do care! I care about a lot of things!_ she told herself, as to prove that what he said wasn't true. 

"What makes you think you know?" she yelled at Nanaki and began to run towards to woods faster. Tears fell down her cheeks. _I care! I do! I… just never.. show it_, she thought and ran faster. Trying to swallow her tears, she suddenly stopped and turned around to see if he was following. For all she cared he could walk back to his precious Canyon. She didn't need him anymore. _I didn't need him in the first place._

"I'm sorry." She suddenly heard a voice near her say. Nanaki sat there, looking sympathetically into her eyes. He had regretted his words as soon as he had spoken them. Nanaki almost couldn't recall why he had said so in the first place. It was some other voice inside of him, full of anger and bitterness towards her. The voice had said to him: _She doesn't care. She doesn't care for anyone, least for you._

"Why do you cry, Yuffie? I didn't really mean it." 

Yuffie gulped and looked at him. "So you wanna tell me about that eye of yours?" she then asked, arrogantly, as if to cover her own sadness.

Nanaki thought she looked too amusing to be completely serious with her arrogance, so he nodded and said: 

"Sure. But let's keep walking, so we'll get to Rocket Town in time."  Yuffie nodded and they began to walk.

"It happened when I was at a very young age. About 35 years ago." Nanaki began his story. 

"35 years?!?" Yuffie gasped. "Even Cid hadn't born that time!" 

"Yes, I know." Nanaki said and continued: "Grandfather was away, that time he travelled quite a lot, so I was left to protect the Canyon. The Shin-Ra came, with a bunch of SOLDIERs and everything. They were actually looking for me, but I didn't know that, and thought they were after the writings about the Cetra. That time army used mostly swords instead of guns, so one of the SOLDIERs slashed my eye. But my race has always had perfect eyesight, so I didn't become blind, more like the opposite. It's still a hurtful memory, since that was the first time I met Hojo." 

"Wow," Yuffie said. She looked at the scar. 

"Does it hurt?" she asked and reached her hand towards it. Nanaki pulled back. 

"No, but I'd rather not have anyone touching it", he then said. 

"Can I pat you in the head instead? Or nose? Can I ride you?" Yuffie giggled and ruffled the fur on Nanaki's head. It felt nice and Nanaki purred, which made Yuffie giggle even more. _He's actually pretty fun to be with..._ She smiled at him. _We're gonna have fun in Wutai._

"We're soon in Rocket Town, One-eye." Yuffie said and stared into the horizon. 

"Yes, we are. Hope Cid's not mad at you. If he is, he might not take us on Highwind," Nanaki stated and worried for Yuffie's sake. _She wants to go to Wutai so badly, it would hurt her so much if she found out she couldn't, at this point,_ he thought and looked solicitously at Yuffie. Then he slapped himself with his own tail by thinking such odd thoughts. _Why do you care?_ he asked himself and glanced at Yuffie, who was equipping her armour while walking, which is quite a skill and whistling carelessly. _Why do I care …so much?_ Nanaki sighed. 

"He won't be. We've always been great buds, the old man and me. I hate his airship and all, but he tells the best jokes and I even gave him some love-advice on that lady, Shera. The poor man's fallen for her big time," Yuffie said and grinned. "Kinda sweet, don't you think? Old people and love." 

"Old people?" Nanaki repeated. "I don't think Shera and Cid are **that** old." 

"Whatever. Gawd, I hope we get there soon. Better get a move on!" she said and began to run towards the Rocket Launch Pad. They had hardly encountered any enemies at all. Nanaki ran after her. 

"What advice did you give him?" Nanaki asked when he reached her. 

"Some advice on the love-zone. Told him to tell her how he feels. Maybe propose. If she didn't think it was too soon." Yuffie explained and thought about Cid and Shera. _Red's right, they aren't seriously that old_, she thought. _Still it's very sweet_, she added in her mind and thought of the way Cid looks at Shera. It's like he adored her so much he couldn't ever, ever, be with anyone else. Yuffie glanced at Nanaki. She would so love to show him her house in Wutai, plus the cathouse and the pagoda, from the outside, of course. 

_She couldn't possibly have a crush on Cid, could she? She does talk way too much about him, in my opinion..._ Nanaki caught himself wondering about the stupidest things. He got embarrassed and glanced at Yuffie for a short while, then moved his eye on the ground. _Jealous?_ some voice inside his head asked. _Jealous? Oh, how that amuses me... NOT!_ He snorted at himself for thinking such things and ignored the very Yuffie-like thing he had thought. 

_She's pretty,_ he thought as he glanced at her. He was glad he wasn't human, otherwise he would be as red as a chilli pepper. 

_He's only got one eye_, Yuffie revised the facts. _But the eye that he's got is very pretty_, she stated in her mind. _And he's, well, an animal_, she thought. _No, not an animal_, she quickly decided. _A different race_. She felt her face getting all red. _But he's so wonderful... What am I thinking? I like him, but we're just good_ _friends. Or are we? Does he hate me? Oh gawd, he hates me and thinks I'm a stupid brat_. She worried and tried to concentrate on the fact that they were killing some enemies. Rocket Town was close. _Hooboy! I'm in love!_ Yuffie thought as missed hitting the opponent while Nanaki killed the last enemy. 

"I-is something wrong, Y-yuffie?" Nanaki said with a confused stutter. 

"Now, I'm just still a little bit tired, you know, got up so early this morning", Yuffie babbled on. 

"Yeah, it happens, well, Rocket Town is very near and it isn't even dark so looks like we don't have to share a tent tonight," Nanaki said nervously. _Thank Holy she doesn't know what I was thinking just now..._ He sighed slightly and glanced at her raised eye-brow.

"What is it?"

"You said 'yeah'," Yuffie pointed out.

"And…?" 

"You _never_ say 'yeah." 

"Oh." 

The next five hundred meters they walked in perfect silence, both thinking about the uncomfortable guest beds in Cid's house and how they wouldn't mind sharing a tent for tonight. 

Cid welcomed them both reluctantly. Shera, however, was far friendlier and offered them so much tea they could hardly hold it in. Yuffie was seriously grossed out by the fact that once Cid and Shera had started to settle down on their own, Cid had taken Yuffie's advice and now he was throwing suggestive comments to Shera. Shera just blushed and said 'Oh, Captain'. Nanaki found sipping tea not really suited for him, so he settled with some biscuits on the table. Yuffie spilled her tea and Nanaki spit out his half-eaten biscuit as they both noticed Cid feeling Shera up. Yuffie's eyes were as big as plates, when she hurried to clean up her spilled tea with a napkin. 

"I think I'll call it a day, what do you think, Red?" she hurried to say and glanced at Nanaki, mouthing "Let's leave, fast!".

"Good idea, I'm awfully tired as well. Thank you for the lovely biscuits, Shera," Nanaki hurried to explain and hurried away from the table. 

"And thanks for the tea, too!" Yuffie yelled from the door before Shera had the chance to say anything back. 

They both ran to the small guest rooms, upstairs of Cid's house. Before Nanaki went into his room, Yuffie commented: 

"I take back the thing I said about 'old people and sweet love'. Definitely", she added. Nanaki laughed. Yuffie was not amused, grossed out, more like. 

"But love is sweet in other cases, right?" he asked. 

"Yeah, it is. Like with Cloud and Tifa." 

"Or Cloud and Aeris," Nanaki added. 

Yuffie grinned. "You a Cloud-Aeris supporter? Curse you!" 

Nanaki shrugged. "Two minds, both right." 

Yuffie looked puzzled. "Don't get it." 

"Me neither." Nanaki admitted. Yuffie smiled. 

"Love is sweet with people, like our age," she said. 

"Ever been in love?" Nanaki suddenly asked. He regretted it the next second. 

"I don't know," Yuffie said and blushed. "You?" she asked awkwardly. 

_Sweet smile, not a grin. Though her grin is cute too_, Nanaki thought and shook his head. "I don't know either." 

"Love is odd." Yuffie sighed. 

"Indeed." Nanaki looked down. 

"Well, goodnight, One-eye. Tomorrow; Wutai, you coming with me, then?" Yuffie asked. _I don't really want to go alone anymore_, she thought. She blushed. _It really didn't use to matter.. Now it does._

"Yes, I am." Nanaki said and headed towards his room. 

"Night," he turned around and said. 

"Night," Yuffie said and went inside her small guest room. She closed the door and leaned against it. She thought about gold fishes. Tomorrow she would show Red her own prize-winning gold fishes. Then she would make them sing… Songs of the spring. And love.

**********************************

Story Notes: Well, after a million day break, I've finally re-written this story, edited it and will now be writing **2 NEW CHAPTERS**. So yay? 


	5. The Goldfish Ceremony & Confessions

The warm breeze blew against Yuffie's face and into her hair and she glanced over her shoulder at the deep orange creature gazing at her frame. 

"We're almost there, Red!" she shrieked, excitedly. "We're almost in Wutai!" 

He smiled. He had never seen her so happy, shining like competing with the sunlight as Highwind neared the Wutai mountain line and then, if you watched closely, you could see the green grass fields and the odd houses as the Ancient city of Wutai peaked behind the mountains. Yuffie beamed at Cid, who had come to the deck to admire the view. There was no denying it; Wutai was beautiful. 

As they landed, Yuffie saw the faces of the people, all of them smiling happily as she waved at them. _They're all here to welcome me_, she thought. _Yuffie__Kisaragi__ is back home. She jumped down to meet the familiar faces, she greeted her old friends in her native language, she hugged her former nanny, Shiri and did a traditional Wutain greeting among the company of her father's pagoda's Masters. The woman, who ran the cathouse, Yirike, gave her a kitten she had named after her and the little Yuffie-kitten meowed sweetly. Then, the honourable Lord Godo of Wutai, walked towards her daughter and Yuffie beamed at him, as people stepped aside. Godo wore a smile much like the one he had after Yuffie had beaten him in the last floor of the pagoda. _

"Yuffie," he said with a Wutain accent.

"'Sup Pops," Yuffie greeted and winked at her old man, which shocked some of the older village folk. The younger just smirked. They knew what to expect from her. And so did Godo. 

"You spunky little brat," he laughed and walked to hug his daughter. Yuffie hugged back. _I'm home..._

"Oh, dad! I almost forgot!" She let go of her father and turned around hastily. "Father, this is ...My friend. Nanaki," she smiled at Nanaki, who walked slowly towards Godo Kisaragi. Yuffie was glowing, but Godo didn't seem too thrilled. He eyed Nanaki very suspiciously. 

"A friend, huh?" He turned his eyes on Yuffie.

"Will there be a ceremony later this evening, dad?" Yuffie changed the subject quickly. She knew exactly what her father's words would've been next. _He's so... Racist sometimes. _She huffed angrily. _I wish he wasn't. So prejudiced, he hasn't even gotten to know Red yet. He doesn't know, I- she paused and gulped. __Love him? Do I?_

"Yes, the gold fish ceremony will be held tonight, Yuffie..." Godo glanced at Nanaki disapprovingly once more. "I shall... see you there then. Get some rest." And so Lord Godo walked back to his apartment, as Yuffie and Nanaki were directed by the villagers to Yuffie's own house, where they could stay and rest for a while. 

Nanaki sat in Yuffie's house, gazing into the air, wondering how he'd gotten here. _Yuffie's father certainly wasn't too friendly_, he thought to himself. _But why should I care about his opinion about me? To many people I'm just an animal, an odd creature. He felt something stung his chest. _A freak.___ And on that moment, he hoped more than anything that even if the whole world thought of him as something unnatural, Yuffie wouldn't. _For Holy's sake...___ When did **she** become so important to me? And... Why does it feel so ...natural? Like I've always- he paused. __Loved her?_

"Red?" a voice suddenly asked. He turned around.

"Yeah, Yuffie?"

Yuffie snickered. "You did it again!"

"What?!" Nanaki seemed confused.

"You said 'Yeah'. You're picking up a habit, I'd say," she teased. Nanaki flushed a little. 

"I'm not!"

"Hehe, whatever. The ceremony's just about to start, you want to come?"

"Of course," he replied and Yuffie beamed.   
"It's going to be so beautiful." 

And he was sure it would. 

A girl in a traditional Wutain outfit carefully put her hand in the water and picked up two small goldfishes, which she put inside her shining clean bowl filled with fresh water. The night sky of Wutai was lit with stars and dozens of brightly coloured lamps were hung above houses as people gathered around the river to watch the ceremony. Wutain music was playing on the background, but right after all of the 13 girls had picked up their goldfishes, the music stopped and the girls kneeled on the pillows in front of them. The first contestant, a plump girl with long, black hair, cleared her throat and muttered some Wutain words into her bowl. Then an older lady came to her with a cup of what seemed like white dust and the small girl took a handful of the dust and sprinkled it into her bowl. 

Yuffie gasped as the memories came flooding back into her mind. She saw herself in her goldfish ceremony-kimono, kneeled down on the pillow, whispering the spell into her bowl. 

Then the singing began. It was like Ancient spirits had woken up, and they sang in Old Wutain. They sang of Leviathan, the Water God and the pagoda. And the ancient wars and... Yuffie blinked. _Cetra__. She nudged Nanaki, who looked at her, quizzically. _

"They sang of the Cetra! They actually sang of the Cetra!" she told him excitedly and he smiled. She smiled happily and listened to the next contestant's goldfishes. They didn't sing nearly as long or as beautifully as the first girl's had, but overall, the second participant was good also. 

Nanaki was absolutely blown away by the ceremony. He hadn't even paid attention to Yuffie's excited squeals on most part, or Godo Kisaragi's angry glares, being too concentrated on the singing and the sounds and the scenery of this beautiful event. He was struck by all of it. How could something so amazing as this exist on the Planet and not we written about? Not be studied in the Library of the Canyon? Why hadn't the Elders told him? Didn't they know? And then he looked at Yuffie and saw how beautiful how beautiful she looked against the multi-coloured lights and he _just knew_ he loved her. _I want to be with her. Forever. I don't care where,_ he thought. _I have my duties at the __Cosmo__Canyon__, but I also love this place... I wonder if she ...feels the same?_

On that moment, she happened to look at him and he hastily turned his eyes away.

"You want to go to bed?" Yuffie asked with a yawn. The ceremony was over.

"I don't see why not," he responded and they paced calmly to Yuffie's house. As they reached the door to Yuffie's bedroom, he couldn't keep it secret anymore.

"Yuffie..."

"Yes?" Her eyes glittered with hope. _He's going to tell me... She held her breath. _Probably that he doesn't want to stay and that he'll be leaving tomorrow.__

"I..." Nanaki began, but the words didn't come out easily. 

"Y-yes?" Yuffie frowned at him.

"I l-love you," he blurted. Yuffie was taken by surprise. 

"Love me?" she repeated, dumbfounded. 

"Yes." His growl was barely a whisper.

"So do I," she said hastily.

"What?"

"I think I love you as well," Yuffie said shyly and smiled. The genuine smile, the one he loved more than anything. And then she bowed down and gave his furry forehead a small kiss. He purred and nudged her face gently with his nose. 

"I want to be with you, Nanaki," she whispered into his fur. "I want to be with you now and forever."

"I want to—" Nanaki began, but he trailed off as he saw a large, shadowy figure near them. 

"Dad!" Yuffie gasped.

**************

Author's Notes; Ahh, yes. A cliff-hanger. I'm sorry, I just had to. How you liking it? Not too fluff, is it? I know, I made the whole goldfish-thing up. I'm freely using my imagination here and making up things we do not know about the Wutain culture. :) Please review.


	6. A Father's Turn to Speak

Failed Plans & Gold Fishes

Chapter 6

Disclaimer: back in chapter one. Author's Notes follow;;; Okay, so this story has fans. I'm glad. Let yourself be heard, if you read a chapter and love it, review and let me know. It turns out this isn't the last chapter… Sorry! The story is taking the piss out of me. It's quite frustrating really, because I'd really like to finish this and just get it over with. Besides, it's becoming way too cliché-ish. So, this is definitely not my best work, but I'm writing it for you. So enjoy & review. [And even if you think this chapter was lamer than the other 5, review and let me know.]

Red XIII couldn't have lifted his head, even if he had wanted to. His flaming tail was wrapped around his body as he sat there, unhappily hanging his head, eye closed. Yuffie's father had come and dragged her away no matter how much she resisted. Even though in matters of strength Yuffie was almost as powerful as her father, she didn't hit or punch him. Red knew why. No matter how equal they were in fighting one another, they were still family and he had an authority she still looked up to, even if just for a small part. 

Red waited for the tears to come, but they never came. He wondered what he could do. He would most probably be leaving tomorrow. Godo Kisaragi's glare at him had definitely told him he was no longer welcome in Wutai. Inside Nanaki just felt numb. _Stop kidding yourself_, a voice inside of his head told me. _You didn't really think it'd work out?_

_Get real._ Something stung his chest. "Get real" was just the kind of phrase Yuffie would use. He shook his head. _Forget it. It's over._

Godo had taken Yuffie to his house. The last few feet of the walk, he had finally let go of her arm and she just walked beside him in silence, knowing what kind of argument they'd have later in the house. She was right. In that moment, she hated being right. 

"What were you thinking?" he angrily spat at her as soon as they got in.

"That I could bring a friend to my home and it'd be okay," she replied calmly and shot him a glare.

"A friend? You call that thing a friend?" He huffed.

"He's a friend just like Cloud Strife or Tifa Lockhart! He fought with us to save the Planet. Yes, he is a friend of mine."

"That thing…" Godo Kisaragi breathed in quickly. "Is nothing more than a monster with verbal skills!"

Yuffie had already opened her mouth to say something, but now she closed it and took a few steps back. _Monster?_ She turned away, angry at her father. She faced the wall with confused thoughts running around in her head and both of them stood in silence like that for a moment or two. Then he spoke, more gently than before:

"You know I didn't mean that, Yuffie…" He walked closer to her. "Child.. I'm just worried."

"Worried of me? Dad, I've been out on a huge adventure gathering material for the last two or three years and you're worried of me **now?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing.**

"Not worried of you… Worried of the choices you might make. I can see you're…" He searched the words for a while. "In love with Nanaki."

"And what if I am?" she snorted, a mixture of confusion and demand in her voice.

"Think, Yuffie… You're both so young now. And you're of different species. You didn't think it was going to work out with you two? Even your friends would not accept it. His people would not accept it." He let out a little laugh. "Admit it. It was foolish to begin with."

"Crazy, young love, eh?" Yuffie said sarcastically.

"Yes," he said, taking her previous comment seriously. "Crazy indeed."

Yuffie turned to face him. "Dad," she said, her voice silencing. 

"What?"

"I don't care what you or anybody think." Her voice was determined, but the look on his face was amused.

"Lady Yuffie… Aren't you over your rebel-phase yet? Do not stand against your father's will. You know it'll only cause you bad things."

She folded her hands and her eyes became narrow. "A     re you threatening me?"

"No," he answered. "But I think you'd know if I was."

And with those words, she fled the house, full of anger and frustration and ran as high as she could get up the Wutai Mountains. Beneath the sacred statues she just cried until she fell asleep and after a few hours, the sun came up. Uncertain on what she was going to do, she just sat there and quietly thought about all the things that had happened. _I don't want to give him up…She huffed angrily. _This is ridiculous, what does my father want me to do? Flee the country, so I can be with the one who I care the most for? _Amusedly she thought about the choice she was put to make. __My father or the one I love?_

And then she looked up and saw Nanaki and the sun shining behind his frame. A worried look was written all over his face as he sat down next to her.

"How are you?"


	7. Conclusion

Failed Plans And Gold Fishes, chapter 7

Disclaimer & everything else in chapter 1.

Author's Note: Someone left me an amusingly threatening review for this one, so I decided to finish it. Isn't that strange? Anyway. This is different in style since it's been two years (!) since I last updated this fic, but I hope you like it despite that. It offers a conclusion. There will be no more. Sorry.

It took a few moments for Yuffie to speak.

"I'm leaving."

Nanaki said nothing, just nodded his head. She gazed at the village below them, small figures pacing the streets.

"Where are you going?" Nanaki asked.

"Wherever you're going," she replied.

Wutai. Strange how alien it had suddenly become. The people, holding onto their world's past glory, still hoping for something to come along, some new hope. She had tried to do everything she could for her country to regain its past state of wealth and abundance. She had taken action.

But she was only 16 years old. She couldn't perform miracles. She couldn't get Wutai everything that was needed.

Wutai was fading. Dying in the hands of its citizens who only had hope. It just wasn't enough. None of her efforts were.

The goldfish ceremony was one of the signs that while Wutai held onto old traditions, they didn't try to develop, move on, become something more than they were.

Yuffie had made her choice. Leaving, now, until it would be too late, until she would conform and become one of the Wutaians who didn't care to change for the better.

"You cannot be serious," Nanaki said. His voice was gruff, sort of an unbelieving growl.

"Never been more serious about anything in my life, Red," she said, a bit insulted by his tone.

"You wouldn't be happy elsewhere."

"I would only be miserable in Wutai. Can't be worse elsewhere."

"But you belong here. And I'm going back to the Canyon. You'd hate it here. You might not think so now but with time, you'd want to come back here. Live with your people."

Yuffie snorted. "My people? I have very little in common with them. They don't seem to understand me at all."

"That's just your father. And quite honestly, you two seem to disagree about a lot of things."

"I'm going with you. It's not up for discussion!" she exclaimed, annoyed at the conversation and Red's attitude. He took a few steps toward her.

"I'm not taking you with me, Yuffie."

Tears of frustration started to form in the corners of her eyes and she felt a huge lump in her throat. She couldn't understand why Nanaki was being this awful to her, his condescending attitude and everything. Did he not love her like he had told her?

"I don't care." She folded her arms in an immature manner, biting back the tears.

"Can't you just trust me that I know better? I want to be with you but this. This..." Nanaki trailed off, taking his eyes off her for a while. "This is difficult."

"But not impossible." She shook her head. "Definitely not impossible. I'm still coming with you."

"No, you're not."

And deep inside she knew she wasn't. It was because of that that she sunk to her knees, crying, tears trailing down her hands. Nanaki sat next to her, nudging her shoulder with his nose, and laying his head on her shoulder as she wrapped her hands around him, holding onto his fur.

It took two months for Yuffie to realize some stories didn't have a happy ending.

It took two years for her to realize that they maybe could. After all.

Ending note: Thank you all for reading. I do not consider this fic my best writing, but I am glad it got the positive response it did. And to clarify: The last line refers to Advent Children. No, I don't know what will happen in it. I don't think it'll include hints to this pairing or anything of that sort, but I just thought that maybe, if these two were to meet again, under those conditions, who knows. But I'm not writing it. You'll just have to imagine it.

Oh, and sorry it's not a happy ending. I'm sure some of you wanted that a lot.


End file.
